Thursday, December 7, 2017

Fourteen authors are having a half price or less sale of one of their m/m historical romances.

Fourteen authors share the history and setting of their books or book excerpts on their blogs and websites.

On the bottom of this page, follow the links to the authors’ websites to

read all the authors’ posts and then go pick up a great read

for half-price or less from December 12 - 24!

🎄🎄🎄

For every day of this promo (Dec. 12-24, 2017), my new book Ganymede: Abducted by the Gods, will be on sale for $2.99 on Amazon. That's half-price of the $5.99 price it was this week! So if you haven't bought it yet, now's the time!

Also remember you can get a free copy of my book "Letters to an Android" if you sign up for my newsletter.

🎄🎄🎄

Many Greek myths contain same-sex affairs between the gods, half-gods and humans, but Ganymede's abduction is one of the most blatantly homoerotic tales. Basically, Zeus kidnaps him to be his lover simply because Ganymede is the most beautiful youth he's ever seen. Yes, he pays Ganymede's father for the loss of his son. Yes, he says he wants the innocent and lovely Ganymede to be his "cup-bearer", but really he wants to possess him and have him in his bed.

In the myth, Ganymede remains one of Zeus's favorites, so much so that he is the only human Zeus ever bestows the gift of immortality on, giving him the name Aquarius and making him a constellation.

I had an erotic story in my head, inspired by this myth, for about a year before I wrote anything down. When I did, it took off in its own direction. I took the basic story of the myth and made up my own fantasy version. First, I decided that since Ganymede is abducted against his will, the theme would have to be more along the lines of Ganymede's hopeless and helpless situation. He goes through a lot of homesickness and culture shock. The gods in my universe have technology that includes far star-travel, and Ganymede is introduced to it all at once, which is a shock to his system. Also, being on Olympus against his will causes resentment (duh!), and he never really falls for Zeus. Instead, he falls for the raven (in the myth it's an eagle, but I like ravens better) who flew him up to the stars. The Raven is a shape-shifter and the real romance happens between him and Ganymede, but not until the second half of the book.

This book does not follow a traditional formula romance, so it is for those looking for something deeper, different. It has eroticism (because I like it) and my penchant for poetic details. It is about being a fish out of water, and learning what it might be like to suddenly be given the gift of immortality. But of course, Ganymede finally does find love!

This book has inspired me so much that I am writing more books in this universe which I call my "Fantastic Immortals Series". Look for future books focusing on Zeus, and Eros.

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Follow the website links below to discover a new author. Find a new book to read.

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

I'm excited to announced I have two new books available, both LGBT romances, both male/male romances.

It feels like I've been waiting a million years for it, but my 55k novel Ganymede: Abducted by the Godsis finally out! This book is very loosely based on the Greek myth, one of the more homoerotic myths out there, wherein young, beautiful Ganymede is kidnapped by the god Zeus to be his cup-bearer and lover. In my version of this myth, the gods are jaded alien immortals, and Olympus is a floating city on a far distant planet. Also, Ganymede may lose his virginity to Zeus, but he does not end up with Zeus. Read and find out why!

The wonderful cover for this book was done by the talented Sadie Sins (check out her books on Amazon or her website).

My second book is a Christmas novella The Elves of Christmas, also a male/male romance with tall, broody elves at the North Pole expecting a surprise visit from Santa. It's a sweet, cozy curl-up read.

Both books have been receiving wonderful reviews this past week, and I thank each and every one of those readers!

Ganymede has a somewhat interesting backstory. It started out as a sort of five page poem which I decided had to be a novel. I used the unfinished poem as a sort of very abstract outline, and started over, writing the book. I knew Ganymede was taken against his will because of his beauty, and that he missed his dog. I knew Olympus would be a portal in a different sort of time-flow that overlooked the entire galaxy. Slowly, awhole world unfolded before my eyes and I knew there would be other books about these fantastic immortals. It was Sadie Sins who suggested I subtitle the book "The Fantastic Immortals Series" allowing me to pursue more books in that universe. I'm just about to finish up a novel about Zeus's origin called Zeus: Heir to the Gods. I plan to write stories about Eros, and Sable (Sable is a character from the Ganymede book). The Sable book will probably be a sort of stand-alone sequel to Ganymede. I'm very inspired and I can see myself writing about six of these books, upping my game with each one.

I still have one more release I'm hoping to get out by the end of this year. Prey is a dark, sci fi, alien abduction and rescue novella. It poses some darker themes, such as: What if you are taken young and the only life you know is with abusive aliens and when you are rescued you no longer fit with human society? It is one character's story about this very question, and his unique seduction of his proper, wound-tight rescuer. It is about guilt, Stockholm Syndrome, shame, freedom and transformation with a lot of inky dark pools shimmering around the edges of sexual coercion and sexual freedom. Look for it soon.

Don't forget you can get a free copy of my book "Letters to an Android" if you subscribe to my newsletter.

Sunday, April 9, 2017

Many of you know I belong to the SFPA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association).

This year I was honored to be nominated twice for their yearly Rhysling Award. Voting is not yet complete, and winners are usually announced in the summertime. Anyway, here is the nominated poem in their "short poem" category. (And to read the poem nominated in the "long poem" category, go here.)

Build a
Rocketship Contest: Alternative Class A Instructions and Suggestions

by
Wendy Rathbone

Section
One

it
shall please the wind

if you
make your rockets

of silk
and balsa

for
this journey is not about

functionality

it is
all emotion

how
trembled sands

and
vortex seas

make a
language

in the
shape of yearning

how the
wings of your

star-boat
flicker

to a
thrill

more
about the hunter

less
about the hunt

Section
Two

Past
winners include rockets made of

magnetic
poems

and
Victorian lanterns

a
candle in every porthole

your
vessel may run on the fuel of wine

trailing
fumes of oakmoss and patchouli

you
will be rated on the colors of

its
vapors

how
well they curve and twine

in pink
torrents or Mediterranean blue
and if the black fog of the thrusters

Friday, December 30, 2016

For my blog entry this time, I offer a poetic, weird little flashfic for fun. My gift to this month of December, 2016.

The Goblin of Wishes

Wendy Rathbone

On
a moon called Firelight, in a sector of space more like black marble than
hollow

void, lived the goblin of wishes.

Where
he walked, all energy bent and curved beneath him like candle flame. His hair
leaked phosphorescence. He gave off a sugared scent.

At
his core lay cold dark like longing, the taste of far voyages and dreamless
nights.

No
one who encountered him could capture and keep him, though many tried, hoping
they could force him to make their wishes come true.

One
day, in a starship shaped like a twist of ribbon, came three astronauts from
three different sectors of space.

They
kidnapped the goblin of wishes and put him in rooms of silk, behind bars of
gold.

The
goblin never defended himself. He was taken easily, with nets made of lilies
and silver foam, and led to the cage where all of manner currency to buy his
services awaited him. Poems. Rings. Roses. Pretty cards with funny bears on
them. Promises. Violins. Wine. Rain sounds on a curtained window.

He
was given furs and leather, shirts of taffeta. Boots of dragon scale. Kilts of
alien light.

Songs
carved from the tongues of extinct fairies filled the rooms.

The
goblin sat among his beautiful gifts, in his prison, and said nothing.

He
watched his captors with still eyes that rarely blinked, watched what they
favored, how they moved and talked, what they ate, studied their language and
what might be missing.

He
knew what they wanted from him. It was why they treated him well.

One
day, the astronaut called Million came to him and said, “If you can give me my
heart’s desire, I will drug the others and set you free.”

The
goblin produced, as if from the air, a small oval hand-mirror in a frame carved
with images of snakes eating each other’s tails.

Million
took the mirror and looked into it. He cried out, for within were the ghostly
images of his wife and daughter, dead from an alien plague.

“This
is a trick!” he said. “I will never set you free!” But he took the mirror
anyway, and could not stop looking into it.

The
edge of the goblin’s mouth lifted in a half-smile at the word “free”, for these
astronauts were incapable of holding him forever, for they were mortal and he
was not.

The
second astronaut, Clea, came to see him later that evening when the ship was
humming quietly and the goblin could hear the sad, grieving dreams of Million
as he slept, and the erotic dreams of the third astronaut as he dozed in a
fitful slumber.

Clea
had blue hair and doll-like brown eyes, but those two traits were all that were
physically beautiful about her. The rest of her—face, hands, body—was lumpy and
scarred. Her mouth formed a hole beneath purple, misshapen cheeks.

“No
one will love me because of how I look,” Clea told the goblin. “If you can help
me, I will find a way to return you to your moon.”

As
if from thin air, the goblin produced the loveliest mask in the galaxy, with
filigreed edges and a feathered crown. Lunar lavender rhinestones outlined the
holes for the eyes.

“You
want me to wear that? Ridiculous! Offensive! Monstrous!”

But
Clea took the mask from him anyway and left, her promise to let him go
unfulfilled.

The
goblin waited two days for the third astronaut, Gren, to visit.

The
first thing Gren said to him was, “Clea and Million are not happy.”

The
goblin watched Gren as he paced before the golden bars of the caged room. Gren
had a kind face and smile, but he seemed shy. His black hair fell in a glossy
braid down his back. He had a habit of chewing his lower lip. He would not
allow his body to be still, to be himself.

“You
fulfilled their wishes in ways they do not like. I’m not sure if I should ask
you what you might have in store for my wish.”

The
goblin did not need Gren to voice his wish. He’d felt it through the ship’s
bulkheads for three days. He motioned Gren close. The young man hesitated, but
finally moved forward until his chin nearly touched the bars.

The
goblin came to him. Their faces were very close. Through the bars he leaned in
and kissed Gren delicately on the lips.

Gren
was the only one who hadn’t promised the goblin anything for his wish.

But
it was Gren who stayed with the goblin after he took him home, where space is
more like black marble than hollow void.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Writing, whether it is part-time or full-time, is one of those occupations that is a continuous roller-coaster with ups and downs that never end. No matter how much experience or how many sales and publications you have under your belt, the let-downs happen, the set-backs occur. It requires a tough approach, a thick skin. Just when you think you're up, bad news floats in. Amidst the bad news, good news can pop in at any time. You never know. But you have to remember that the good does happen.

I have faced a lot of rejection this year, probably because I marketed my work more heavily this year than in the past. But I have also had some great acceptances. After all my years of playing off and on in various writing genres, I still find rejection hard. It's stupid, really, because editor tastes are individual and not for all, and because the competition is fierce and good things get rejected simply because editors can't fit all the good stuff they get into their projects. But still, rejection in general makes me second-guess myself, question myself. And these are dangerous waters to tread.

So I like to focus on the good, and on accomplishment. And this year I have had a lot. Here's the list:

I sold a novel to a real publisher. "The Android and the Thief" will be out from Dreamspinner Press April 2017.

I focus on all these positive things on this list to keep myself going into the next year. It is about pushing forward, always striving to do better. I have a lot of writing experience, but the more I do, sometimes it feels like the less I know. Writing is about trusting. Running blind. Stepping off a ledge into the unknown. You just have to do it and hope. And then repeat and repeat and repeat.

I have more projects for the coming year, 2017. I am working on a new queer scifi romance called "Lake in the Stars". I am working on a new poetry collection called "Superheroes Take Over the World". I am working on a collection of the best of my best queer vampire stories, "Bitters," which will be out very soon (since all of it is already written).

I will not lie that disappointments for me in being a writer, and doing my very best, run vast and deep, but I keep looking at my list of accomplishments from just this year and I know I can go on. I'm not griping, I'm just saying that it's a very hard road. I always wanted to do this full-time, and I can't.
The enthusiasm and excitement with which I approach it comes with a lot of hair-pulling, anxiety and even resentment. Every writer overcomes these things in their own ways, but the battles are real. This has been both a good year for me, and a hard year. But I am off and running into new projects, new hopes, new dreams.

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

As autumn arrives, I can feel my muse wake up. It's been a long, hard summer of travel for work, work and more work. No time for writing.

But I did manage to edit and submit a new novella to a Christmas anthology called "This Wish Tonight" from Mischief Corner Books. The novella entitled "Eve of the Great Frost" was accepted! It will be out probably at the end of November and you can bet I will post links and info. on it as soon as I have it. This novella is a gay, erotic romance set on the alien world of Niobe in a far distant future where much of the galaxy is colonized.

I also managed two in-depth edits on my novel for Dreamspinner Press, "The Android and the Thief." Originally, that novel had been accepted by their genre imprint DSP Publications. But over the summer some romance reviewers gave me information that they DO NOT review that imprint. I also heard complaints from some authors from DSP that apparently romance readers were a) avoiding that imprint because they did not think it was "romance", or b) did not even know it existed. I panicked, envisioning my novel languishing on unseen websites, shoved to backs of dusty digital shelves because the title is not "fluffy" enough and because it would be labeled that dreaded word "genre". I politely asked that my novel be moved to the regular romance line-up of Dreamspinner Press since it is, really, a romance despite the futuristic, scifi setting. The wonderful people at Dreamspinner agreed to my request. While there are some GREAT titles/authors in the DSP Publications line-up, and I recommend people check them out for some great reads, I am happy to be moved into the main line-up of gay romances.

That said, I often lately find myself confused as to how to label and market my books. I enjoy writing gay characters, erotica, AND science fiction. To wit, I often include all three in my books. I bust out of the formulas for all of those genres and just write the story that falls naturally onto the page. I don't follow the entire romance formula, yet my books include romantic themes, beautiful erotic scenes, and characters undergoing transformative experiences, including the transformation of falling in love. I love erotica, but my books are not comprised entirely of boinking, so they are not technically porn. I love to world-build and describe beautiful alien vistas, but I am not writing hard scifi with info-dumps and techno explanations that delight much of that crowd. I am writing about the people, period. So where do I belong in that tangled web? If I label a book "gay romance" I alienate the scifi readers. If I label it scifi, I alienate the gay romance fans. As usual, I fall between the cracks. No one knows what to make of me. I need to create my own label: gay starshiptopias where people find love amongst the stars and the shadows but you will also get those Bradbury moments of lyrical wonder, nostalgia, poetry. (But no techno-dumps explaining how the dome on the asteroid works.)

Okay, so I fall through the cracks. I always have been an outsider, even in "outsider" groups. And here's more: I am a poet, gods help me. That right there puts the kabash on most writing conversations. Forget about the readers!

Updates on the poetry front:

I had a poem, "Marco Polo 3879," published in July's issue #21 of "Eye to the Telescope". The theme is "male perspectives" edited by Marge Simon. There was some rancor politically over that issue's theme despite the editor being female and accepting submissions from any-gendered poets. You can see the issue (and my poem) here. The rancor died down. The predicted public drama (the opinion that men already have had their say in this patriarchal society, so the theme might be anti-female) never happened.

Much to my utter shock (and joy), I also had a long poem, "We Shall Meet in the Star-Spackled Ruins," win 3rd place in the "long poem" category of the Science Fiction Poetry Association's poetry contest. My prize: $25. The link to the winning poems, including mine, is here.

I also sold a poem to issue #22 of "Eye to the Telescope." The theme is "ghosts" and it will go live Oct. 15. I will share the link when I have it.

On the fanfiction front, yes, I do still write the occasional fics. My current love is "Captive Prince" fandom based on the "Captive Prince" trilogy by C.S. Pacat. You can check out my newest fanfic, all written during April/May 2016, under the name Natasha Solten here. Simply, Damen and Laurent are irresistible.

Friday, June 24, 2016

I have some good news to share. My novel, "The Android and the Thief," sold to DSP Publications, a genre imprint of Dreamspinner Press. The contract is sound with good royalty percentages and an advance. I just signed it and emailed it today!

This is the novel I was working on during the last part of Jan. 2016 until the end of Feb. 2016. It came out to approx. 95,000 words. I wrote diligently on it every day, never missing a day. Some days I got 1000 words done. Other days I did 4000 words. As with every novel for me, I tend to write quicker when I near the ending. The beginning is always a lot of fits and starts. But the whole is a lot of work, like sculpting details from a giant blankness in the sky while feeling totally lost and alone.

Most of the time when I write I am "pantser." That means I dive into my imagination and begin sculpting my sand castles with no heed of the outside world. I am like a kid again.

But for this novel, which was going to involve more action than I usually write, including a space prison escape, I decided to do some notes, character outlines and a general, very short plot outline. (That is called being a "plotter.") It did not deter my "pantser" fun and inspiration at all, and it really helped to guide me if I ever felt I floundered. What I liked about working with just a rough list of novel events and character notes is that I think it helped me with pacing. This novel reads fluidly, I think, like a page-turner, but I did not skimp on the characterization and deeper thoughts. Here you will find it all, a plot that moves, my brand of lyrical prose, world-building details, and character introspection and growth, along with a budding romance.

The novel takes place about 4000 years in the future when vast parts of the galaxy are explored and colonized by humans of every conceivable culture. I call this universe of mine my "starshiptopia" milieu, because like automobiles of current times, in my future there is a starship around every corner. Other novels of mine that take place in this universe (with completely different casts, planets and stories) are: Scoundrel, The Moonling Prince, and Letters to an Android. I write a lot of poems from this universe-mindset as well.

The story of "The Android and the Thief" is about two young men, one caught under the inescapable power of his father, the other a cloned, indentured human (derogatorily referred to as an android), and how they attempt to escape a system that seeks to cage them at every turn. It is both dark and sweet. It is both an adventure and a love story with many downfalls and hardships along the way. But who could fail to love a story that references Ray Bradbury, Anne Rice and Lao Tsu all at once?

Other things that have been going on for me: I've been working hard at Renaissance Faires and Scottish Highland games where I have a booth. I do about 20 of these types of events each year.

I have been writing scads of poetry. I have a new poetry book I am trying to market (but most of the markets I am looking into are closed at the moment) called "Dead Starships." Beyond that, my newest new poems are piling up. I need to market them individually more often. I know this. But you can also find some of my stuff on Facebook where I often post new stuff as a freebie to my readers and friends.

I also contributed a love poem to the anthology, "Love is Love," which is being done as a charity anthology, and tribute to the victims of the Orlando massacre. More details on that when it becomes available.

Fanfiction: I still write it sometimes when I feel so inclined. If only I wrote fanfic for things that are in public domain, such as the Greek myths (hmm, an idea...), then I would have even more material to sell, publish, distribute. I like fanfic because it has given me safe space to experiment and explore under a pen name. It keeps me typing, keeps me learning.

So there you have it. I have been busy. As usual for me.

Oh, one more thing. Thank you to everyone on Facebook who supported me when I made my novel sale announcement there. You are all wonderful! The irony is that so many people congratulated me on this one sale, more than have ever acknowledged me in any one post before. I realized something. I am not operating in a vacuum.

I must confess: Deciding to become an indie published author has made me very lonely. I think people still see a great chasm between publisher-published authors, and indie-published authors. I understand this because a lot of indie published books are not good. But the fact is, all my indie published novels are books I wrote, had edited and proofed and worked very hard on. I never tried to sell them to traditional publishers until now. I perhaps erroneously thought I would put them on Kindle and people would come to buy them if they wanted them, trusting me to give them a good read. But aside from a few sales and reviews, I remain dead in the water. This means to me that the outside vetting process is important. (Not to mention promotion.) And even though I try to humbly make it known that I am vetted, I am published in magazines, anthologies and websites and have been paid, that I have worked my ass off for 30 years honing my craft, putting my stuff up myself holds a tiny bit of a stigma, I think. I hate to say that because it's not fair to indie authors who are excellent, and not fair to hold publishers to a standard of godhood. But there it is.

And now I am happy to say that I am a hybrid, someone who does both indie and publisher-published books. I have been a hybrid for awhile now. This is not my first book sale. I have sold eight poetry books in my lifetime, a short story collection, and a messily edited horror of a Trek Encyclopedia that was published by Harcourt Brace in the 1990s (that story is one best left forgotten, although I was paid and it was a real job and a real book).

I will probably still put up work on Kindle, but I will also slowly begin to offer some of my novels, old and new, to publishers.

This has been a very very good experience for me.

To all my friends and loyal readers, keep the good things in this world highest in your hearts!

Wendy

My writing desk. Yes, that is a Daryl doll from The Walking Dead standing in front of the candle and holding a severed head.